Shiny little things
by AgentOfAngst
Summary: Teenage Louie meets a girl who contrasts with his current values but reminds him of how he used to be, teaching him a lesson about what you value. My first Ducktales OC


**Uh, spoilers for Season 2, mainly just for the Richest Duck in The World! This is my first Ducktales OC (save for a couple characters in Live Action Roleplay Peril)**

Louie hadn't been paying full attention. He was walking through Duckburg, pretty tired from the summer job he'd been forced to get after losing a bet to Uncle Scrooge. Their bets over the past few years had never been as high stakes as the Glomgold and Scrooge bet that Louie had won and then relinquished. But that didn't mean Louie and Scrooge didn't have frequent bets, on Scrooge's term. Louie would win money towards his college fund, something he'd secured two years ago and was now working towards winning for his siblings and Webby. Sometimes they played for pieces of treasure, usually shiny weapons, that Louie wanted to add to his collection. Almost always, if Louie lost (which was equally as frequent) he had to develop a work ethic. Thus the summer job as a busser. It was draining and humbling but it was better than some of his losses because sometimes he was forced to do jobs that didn't pay at all. He mostly hated it, but he was beginning to appreciate how hard it was to earn money. I guess he'd always known, he'd seen Uncle Donald work hard all his life with barely anything to show. But learning once and for all that money was hard work was a hard pill to swallow. So he was walking home, tired and not really paying attention.

That was when he ran into her. Bits of junk fell out of her hands and bag, shiny pieces of faux treasure that caught his eye as he scrambled to help her gather her things.

"I'm so sorry, let me get that," he felt like he was still bussing, spouting apologies and offering to clean up a mess.

"Don't take my stuff," she threatened, and when he looked up to hand her the mostly worthless treasure she had collected, she had pulled a glittering pocket knife on him.

"I wasn't going to…" He said, putting the glistening screws, pennies, and bits of foil into her arms with one hand while reaching for his pepper spray with the other.

"Good. You can't have my treasures." For some reason, that caused Louie to snort out loud.

"Those aren't treasures." Maybe he was just incredulous that someone would defend gum wrappers and a crushed can of Diet Pep with a knife.

"Excuse me?"

"They aren't! I've seen real treasures. Your pennies aren't even old enough to have historic value. Everything else is, at best, cool found art."

"Take that back!" She looked miffed.

"Don't get me wrong I know things can have sentimental value, so if that's why they're worth something to you I'm not one to judge. But there's nothing of monetary value here, no offense." He stepped back to size up the girl he had most definitely offended. She had a cute, short haircut and wore a hoodie jacket that he suspected had secret inner pockets housing more "treasures."

"You're wrong about me," she hissed.

"Right, sorry then. I'm Louie, and I'd say you've got an almost 50-50 chance of me being wrong on any given day." Even when he was tired he couldn't turn off his mouth. He couldn't stop trying to be charming even if he didn't want to be, and even if it wasn't working.

She sized him up for a moment and then stuck out her hand, no longer holding a knife towards him.

"Shiloh Rook."

"Nice to meet you?" He wasn't totally sure, so he phrased it as a question and waited for someone to tell him how to feel.

"You too." Her precious hoard secured, she began to walk with him, as if they were friends not tiptoeing on the thin ice of knife threats and "no offense."

"I've seen you before," Shiloh accused, causing considerable panic before Louie remembered that he was a household name thanks to his relation to Scrooge and the number of schemes and business ventures that had gotten him on the news.

"Uh, sometimes my family is on the news," he replied, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. He didn't really take pride in money that wasn't his anymore. After that first bet that he'd won, when he'd learned how hard it was to be a billionaire, he stopped lusting over the lucre of Scrooge's business. People shouldn't just stumble into wealth. You had to start somewhere. Though he'd continued to scheme the past few years, he probably wouldn't have "started somewhere" if it weren't for the bets he lost. Bussing wasn't lucrative, but he could find pride in doing something, could find humility in the fact that this was where he was starting, this was where he was at right now.

"Really? Would I know them?" Louie cringed a little bit. Well. She asked.

"Scrooge McDuck?" Why was that a question?

"You're related to Scrooge McDuck?!" She said it so loudly he expected a villain to snatch him from the shadows.

"Maybe don't say that so loud in this part of town?" Why was he so inclined to phrase things as a question around her? Why were her feathers so ruffled by his question statements?

"Oh, too rich for this part of town?"

"I'm actually not that rich. The only money I have to my name is in my college fund."

"If you have a college fund, you're rich," she pointed out.

"I guess you have a point." He could remember a point in his life when he'd really had no hope of going to college. Not without getting several jobs like the one he had now, testing far above what he currently believed he was capable of, and probably still being in debt for a long time. Uncle Donald barely had enough money to take care of the three of them. It wasn't like Louie didn't know that there were days when Uncle Donald had skipped out on meals so that he and his brothers could eat. That wasn't the only thing he remembered from that time...

"I'm sorry I insulted your treasures. I remember collecting shiny rocks and shells when I was younger." If there didn't seem to be any hope of gold than you would cling to anything that glittered.

"It's okay, you didn't see the value in my collection."

"I just didn't remember the value." He didn't want to forget where he had really started from. He didn't want to forget the shiny little things that had made him want more. He didn't want to forget how much Uncle Donald had sacrificed for him so that he and his brothers could have a better life. This summer job and his new friend would be good reminders.

"It's been nice talking to you, Shiloh. I hope I see you around…" Shiloh nodded and smiled at him

"You'll probably bump into me again." She mimicked dropping her things and he laughed.

"Probably…" They parted ways and he didn't feel as tired anymore. He was proud of the person he was today. For once, he was glad to lose a bet.

* * *

**This was supposed to be a romance but I think it's a good introduction to my OC Shiloh, maybe the romance will come in a later fanfic. Hope you enjoyed.**


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